1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to drinking cups and, more particularly, to drinking cups with gravity-aided means for dispensing fluids to individuals with physical or mental impairments.
2. Description of Related Art
Individuals with physical impairments or neurological disorders may exhibit difficulties with eating and/or drinking, swallowing or sucking fluids. This impairment or disorder is generally termed, dysphagia, which, in its broadest sense relates to an eating or drinking dysfunction and, in a more limited sense, defines a swallowing dysfunction. The act of eating and/or drinking, though, involves a complex interplay of physiological mechanisms, both physical and neurological; voluntary and reflexive. As such, dysphagia can result from either and or both a physical impairment or a neurological disorder, and effective treatment must identify and take into account the cause or causes of the dysphagia.
The eating and drinking process begins with the ability to control the intake of a bolus, fluid or solid, into the mouth. Voluntary actions then coordinate processing of the bolus while in the mouth, e.g., chewing, tongue manipulation etc. Voluntary swallowing begins with the movement of the bolus to the posterior of the mouth. At a certain point, involuntary (reflexive) swallowing begins involving two separate phases, the pharyngeal phase and the esophageal phase. The pharyngeal phase generally, describes the movement of the substance from the pharynx to the esophagus while the esophageal phase describes the movement of the through the esophagus.
Physical impairments and neurological disorders can result in both voluntary and reflexive dysfunctioning. Physical impairments can be due to back, neck, mouth, or other physical injuries or conditions, such as cerebral palsy, which make it difficult to either swallow or to raise or tilt the head to drink from a glass or suck from a straw. This may be especially pronounced when the physical condition affects the lips, tongue, pharynx or esophagus.
Neurological disorders, such as a stroke; progressive neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease; physiological brain changes from Alzheimer's or other dementia, or severe retardation to name just a few conditions, can result in an individual not knowing how to drink, actually forgetting to drink and/or not being physically able to drink from a cup. The individual is not able to monitor and/or control the amount and rate of flow of fluid into the mouth. These conditions may be the result of a propriocepter dysfunction. The swallowing stimuli is either not being produced or is produced and, for some reason, is not activating the sensory receptor in the muscles and tendons controlling the eating or drinking process. This may also be the resultant of a neurological impairment.
In such cases serious and severe effects can result. For instance, dehydration may occur, if a person forgets to drink secondary to limited head movement or cannot drink and aspiration may result if a person cannot monitor or control the drinking due to neurological deficits. In addition, assisting a person with an impairment to drink may be difficult, time consuming and messy for a caregiver. Spillage is prevalent with existing cups with the necessity to not only clean-up the actual spill, but, also, the individual and his or her clothes and bed.
Effectively treating dysphagia, requires first determining its cause or causes. Dysphagia resulting from physical impairment may mandate a physiological corrective procedure, e.g. surgery, prior to any therapy. Neurological disorders, on the other hand may manifest in a loss of neurological control over swallowing, in which event a program of swallowing therapy may immediately implemented. In either situation, the therapy must be carefully designed, taking into account the extent and character of the impairment and/or disorder and the personality, age and other aspects of the individual patient. Devices utilized in such therapy must be designed to accommodate such factors and be effective.
There have been many attempts to provide devices to aid individuals with these impairments. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,268, to Katzenberger, describes a device which includes a manual pump mechanism which, alternatively, draws fluid from a source, like a cup, into a reservoir, then forces the predetermined volume of fluid from a reservoir through a straw to the user. This device relies on the mechanical action of the pumping mechanism and not gravity to aid the user. Also, it requires a separate pumping action of the caregiver to operate.
A similar device is marketed by AliMed Inc. under the name People Feeder. This device is used to provide thick soups or pureed food to a user. Like the Katzenberger device, it requires a mechanical pumping action of the caregiver with any further control of fluid flow accomplished by manually squeezing a feeding tube.
AliMed Inc. also markets a Gravity Assisted Drinking Cup which is a 8 oz. cup with a collar in the side by the bottom, in which a standard straw is inserted. Controlling the fluid flow is accomplished by tilting the cup or squeezing the straw. Although a mechanical pump is not employed with this device, the necessity to manually squeeze the tubing is retained. Additional devices marketed by AliMed Inc. include a Dysphagia Cup and Nosey Cup which have contours or cut-outs, respectively, to aid users with impairments.
Maddak, Inc. markets a cup entitled the Flo-Trol Invalid Vacuum Feeding Cup which dispenses fluid through a mouthpiece when a rubber button is depressed by the user. The device utilizes a vacuum to urge the fluid through the mouthpiece.
None of these devices provides a cup which, is adjustable to control the rate and volume of fluid flow as well as, the angle of fluid delivery to a user by utilizing gravity, is consistently accurate in the rate and volume of fluid flow from use-to-use, nor can be effectively incorporated into a program of therapy and/or rehabilitation for a user with a drinking or swallowing disorder.
There exists, therefore, a need for such a device.